Agricultural Workforce Development

The Agriculture Advocacy, Marketing and Outreach team works with farmers/ranchers and agribusinesses to identify current and future needs in regards to the skills needed for workforce.

The team also works with secondary and post-secondary educational institutions to develop training solutions for the workforce needs of the industry. Creating partnerships between industry and education that ensures a pipeline of qualified individuals to fill the needs of the agricultural employers is the primary workforce development goal at KDA.

Additionally, the team reaches out to secondary education programs in order to promote agriculture careers and opportunities that are available to students upon graduation from high school or post-secondary training.

Agriculture Workforce Needs Assessment Survey

In an effort to help support growth in agriculture, the Kansas Department of Agriculture seeks to help the industry better understand workforce needs among agricultural employers in the state by conducting the first Kansas Agriculture Workforce Needs Assessment Survey to identify the number and types of jobs and specific skills required for those jobs in agriculture. The survey will be offered to all agribusinesses, manufacturers and producers of agricultural products in Kansas. According to a five year projection from the USDA and Purdue University, we will be 22,500 jobs short of filling the projected openings in agriculture nationwide.

Child Labor Law - Kansas FFA SAE Fact Sheet

The mission of the Kansas Department of Agriculture is to serve the farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses of Kansas as well as the customers they serve. One of the ways we are achieving this is through workforce development, specifically at the secondary level of education. Providing students an opportunity to explore careers through work-based learning is paramount in determining if they will pursue that career after high school.

This booklet was developed as a quick reference guide for schools and industry to determine if a student can participate in the agribusiness practice. The information found in the following pages is taken directly from Department of Labor bulletins 101 and 102. KDA has condensed this information so that it may be used as a quick reference guide; it is not the official document for labor laws. For further clarification, please refer to the back page and contact the Department of Labor field office in Wichita, Kansas.